India demands Pakistan to handover fugitives

New Delhi, Dec 2 : As India stepped up pressure on Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, New Delhi has demanded Islamabad to handover about 20 fugitives.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi today that a demarche has been handed over to the Pakistan High Commissioner in India on Monday night.

"We have asked in our demarche to handover and arrest those person who are fugitives of Indian law and are settled in Pakistan. There is a list of about 20 persons. We will await for Pakistan's response. We appreciate the responses, which we have received from all over the world including the president elect of United States Barack Obama," said Mukherjee.

Obama said on Monday that militants based in South Asia represented the biggest threat to the United States and he was "absolutely committed" to eliminating the threat of terrorism.

With the world shocked by the deadly militant attacks on Mumbai that killed 197 people, Obama pointed to South Asia as the area of greatest concern.

India has blamed the attacks on militants from Pakistan.

The list handed over to Pakistan includes India's most-wanted man Dawood Ibrahim, the alleged mastermind of 1993 Mumbai bombings. New Delhi has been claiming that Dawood is living in Pakistan, but Islamabad denies that.